I saw Danny kissing Santa Claus
by vespertine dreams
Summary: Danny and Don get volunteered for the NYPD's charity toy distribution for Christmas. Slash- Danny / Don. Reviews welcome.


I saw mommy Danny kissing Santa Claus…

Don Flack heaved a defeated sigh and took the parcel that had been held out to him. He really didn't want to do this.

"Come on, it's for a good cause," he was told, and he knew that his colleagues were correct but still…

Every year, the NYPD and the CSI did fundraising for their 'toys for kids' appeal, the proceeds of which went to kids in the local area who were in foster care or group homes and weren't likely to get much by way of presents at Christmas. It always had a huge turnout, the charity days raising lots of money and people donating gifts and their time. Then, each year on Christmas eve, they would go and deliver the toys, visiting the kids with someone dressed as Santa.

This year, Don had been talked into it.

Reluctantly, he went off to get changed, re-emerging a half hour later in a red suit trimmed with white fur, fake white beard and red and white hat. He had been padded out with a fake belly and carried a large brown sack over one shoulder.

Only when he looked up did he realise that a large group of cops and CSI's had gathered, all smiling happily and taking great pleasure in the fact that they had finally managed to get Don into the Santa suit. He had spent years managing to avoid it and now, just because the guy who usually wore it had called in sick, he had been ambushed.

"New uniform, Detective Flack?" a voice asked from behind him. He could almost hear the grin in that tone. "I kinda like it."

Ah, that would be Danny. Of course he'd have to come along with the rest of the lab-rats to have a look. If he was being honest, Flack was surprised that no one had photos of this yet. Of course, if anyone did it would likely be Danny and Don knew just how to stop that from happening. All it would take was blackmail- he had been dating Danny Messer for long enough now know lots things that he wouldn't want his colleagues to know. Such as the one involving Danny and the handcuffs… Don even had photos for that one.

He turned to see Danny leaning against the doorframe, a huge smirk on his face as he looked Don over from head to toe, and a thought struck him. Detective Davies had said that someone had suggested him for the Santa gig, that he'd be about the right height for the costume- _Danny._ It had to be.

Don smiled pleasantly at him, not giving anything away, and turned back to Davies.

"Hey, Lou, you were looking for another elf, weren't you?" Davies nodded and Don reached out and grabbed Danny's hand to stop him from fleeing when he realised where this was heading. "Well, I found ya one."

He took a lot more pleasure in handing Danny over to them than he should have done but, hell, if he had to wear this get-up then it was only fair that he didn't have to do it alone. Danny protested, saying he had a lot of work to do but Don caught Mac's eye and nodded faintly.

"That's OK, Danny," Mac told him cheerfully. "I can finish up the labs on your case; you're free for the whole day."

Danny split the daggers he was glaring between Mac and Don but took the garment bag from Davies and huffed away into the locker rooms to get changed.

When Danny finally came out of the locker rooms, a pissed off look on his face and his arms folded defiantly, Don had to laugh. God, he wished he had a camera.

Davies went over to him and put the elf hat on him, ignoring the various Italian curses that were being muttered under Danny's breath, and stepped back to take a look.

"Right, you're good to go."

Danny didn't look convinced. "I look ridiculous."

Don had to agree, but it was also kinda cute. Danny had on a green jacket with big black buttons over a green shirt that tucked into green shorts, a wide red belt around his waist. Red and white striped tights covered his legs, going into green, pointy-toed shoes. The green hat, with red tinsel around it had been placed on his head at a jaunty angle, a total contrast to the scowl on his face.

"You're gonna pay for this, Donny," he promised in a low whisper.

Don laughed. He couldn't help it; it was hard to take a threat seriously from a man dressed as an elf.

By the time they reached their second stop, Danny had cheered up and even Don was enjoying himself. So what if he felt stupid in this outfit; the kids loved it. They went around the kids, Danny passing the presents to Don for him to hand out. It was his job to make sure that the kids got something appropriate. The wrappings were all colour coded- pink bows were for little girls, blue bows for little boys, silver bows for older boys' gifts and so on. It made things easier and made sure that the teenage boys didn't get Barbie dolls and such.

A few of the other cops had tagged along as they usually did, letting the kids look in the squad cars and helping them open their presents if the little ones needed it. The whole thing was a good PR exercise as well as being a charity event; these kids would grow up knowing that the police were the good guys, despite what some of the older kids on the street might tell them.

They reached their last stop at around five that evening, a small foster home where Stella had ties, and was welcomed back with open arms. The woman who ran the house remembered her fondly and that was one reason that this was usually their last stop, so that Stella could stay and catch up for a while longer. Besides, they always got home baked cookies when they got here.

Before the cookies, however, Danny and Don had one last batch of toys to deliver. They handed them out to the kids that were in the lounges and visited the one little boy who was ill and had to stay in bed. It just about made Don's day when he saw the kid's face light up as he realised that Santa had come to see how he was and bring him a gift personally.

Stella sat in the kitchen with Marilyn, the woman who had looked after her in the past, drinking a mug of coffee and having a chat. It was nice to come back and visit at this time of year, she thought.

Suddenly, a girl of about fourteen came in and whispered to the two other girls who had been sitting at the kitchen table and the three raced out, giggling.

"What do you suppose that was about?" she asked.

Marilyn shrugged her shoulders although she too looked curious. "I don't know, but I think I'd like to find out."

They found the girls soon enough, along with two others, in the doorway to the dining room. The girls, all around the same age, were peering around the doorframe, giggling quietly. When Marilyn tapped the nearest one on the shoulder, she jumped, her movement causing the others to turn also.

"What's going on?" Marilyn asked.

The girls all blushed and began to giggle again.

"Santa is kissing that elf," one announced, grinning. "See?"

Stella and Marilyn both looked around the corner and, sure enough, Santa _was_ kissing an elf. She cleared her throat loudly.

The two looked around and saw their audience, Danny's cheeks turning scarlet as Don hastily straightened his beard, both murmuring apologies.

Marilyn saw Stella's shoulders shaking in silent laughter and tried not to look at her for fear of starting to laugh herself. She turned to the girls.

"Go on now, scoot! 'Fun's over," she told them. As the girls scattered, she turned back to Danny and Don. "As for you two…"

Once they realised that neither Stella nor Marilyn were going to tell them off, Don heaved a sigh of relief. That had been embarrassing, and it would likely be all around the station by the time they got back. Honestly, cops were worse gossips than group of old women at a coffee morning. As they followed Marilyn to the kitchen for coffee and cookies, Danny leaned in to whisper to Don,

"Look on the bright side, at least they won't ask us to do this again next year."

------

End.


End file.
